Programs: Educators: Masonic Student Assistance Program Training

Thom Stecher and, his associate, Larry Newman created the Pennsylvania Student Assistance Program (SAP) in the early 80's. Through, the founding and the support of National Masonic Foundation for Children (NMFC) they have been able to expand this program across the country. Continually researching and developing, their program model is affecting students in over 30 states and into Canada

Thom Stecher and Associates, in conjunction with Newman and Associates, utilizes the expertise of top SAP trainers to meet the needs of individual school districts. From general trainings to private consultations they work to meet the needs of students, teachers and administrators.

Our experts can provide evaluations of current intervention programs, aid in the implementation of a comprehensive programming, or provide additional support to high functioning programming - check out what works best for you!

3 Day Training

In our 3- day training model, teachers and administrators perform the skills needed to create and maintain a proactive and productive intervention team. This training is designed to demonstrate practical strategies of intervention for students 'at-risk'. The program is easy to implement and effective and efficient in its practices. This program's versatility makes it ideal for creating consistency in behavioral interventions across a school district

Masonic Model

SAP training has proved to be so effective that NMFC across the United States and into Canada have funded it for the past 30 years. In a recent article, Tim McMullin, the past chairman of the Masonic Student Assistance Training Model, had this to say about the program:

How does RTI compare to SAP? Find out why we are confident SAP meets the same components as RTI.

"I spent most of my adult life in schools, as a teacher or in administration. But when I first attended a Masonic Student Assistance Training Program (MSAT) workshop in 2003, my eyes were opened."

Tim goes on to talk about the logistics of the program and ends by saying:

"Promoting and managing this program consumes many hours each day, year around, but I go to sleep each night knowing that because of what I do to organize and advertise the workshops, caring adults in schools are helping children and young adults get back on track."

Schools are asked to send about 6 representatives to the training so a core-team can be established. Core-teams do not work in the hypothetical. Instead, participants are guided through the process of intervention using current student cases. This allows their work to be concrete and to transfer directly back to their school setting.